Chesterfield Pilates pioneer celebrates centre accreditation
A Chesterfield Pilates pioneer who brought innovative techniques back with her when she returned from New York to north Derbyshire, has celebrated her business being accredited as an authorised training centre.
When Georgia Thomas returned to Chesterfield in 2017 after several years living in New York, she brought more than just stories from the city that never sleeps. Packed among her belongings were three pieces of unfamiliar gym equipment: a Pilates Reformer, a Tower, and a Chair.
At the time, the sleek spring-loaded machines were a staple in New York’s thriving boutique fitness studios. But in Chesterfield, they were almost unheard of.
Georgia rented a small room inside a local gym and launched Personalised Pilates, hoping to introduce the equipment-based practice she had come to love.
“It was a tough sell in the beginning,” she remembers. “Even though Pilates studios were thriving in London, most people in the Chesterfield area had never seen a Reformer or any of the Pilates equipment.”
Georgia first discovered Pilates while living in New York. Drawn to its unique blend of strength, control and mindful movement, she trained with Balanced Body, qualifying as a Comprehensive Pilates Teacher and later becoming an NCPT (Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher).
She went on to teach at Pilates Reforming New York for several years, gaining experience in one of the world’s most dynamic fitness environments, before returning to north Derbyshire
When she was asked to cover a Pilates mat class, she saw it as a chance to introduce something different: the original principles of Joseph Pilates’ method — breathing, alignment and deep core activation.
Early supporters became regulars, and before long her mat class was added permanently to the gym schedule. Thomas then offered those loyal attendees a free Reformer class.
“That was how I built my client base,” she explains.
For many participants, it was their first experience using the machine — and they were hooked.
As the business grew, so did the range of clients walking through the studio doors.
Thomas now works with people from their 30s through to their 80s, including clients with specific physical needs — from lower back injuries and joint issues to scoliosis, pregnancy and rehabilitation after hip or knee replacements.
Pilates, she says, offers something unique: a method that can be adapted for almost anyone. “It's not just about exercise,” she explains. “It’s about helping people move better in everyday life.”
Like many fitness businesses, Thomas’s studio faced disruption when the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily halted in-person training. But the period that followed brought a surprising shift.
After moving into a larger studio space, Thomas noticed a surge in interest once lockdown restrictions lifted — particularly in private Reformer sessions.
Then something even bigger happened.
By 2022 and 2023, group Reformer classes exploded in popularity. While Thomas had been teaching them years earlier in New York, the concept felt brand new in Chesterfield.
“It suddenly took on a life of its own,” she says. “It was as if ‘Reformer Pilates’ became its own thing.” Today, the machines have become one of the most recognisable trends in the fitness industry.
Georgia has moved her business once again — this time into a two-floor studio space at the Bridge Business Centre, in Dunston
Downstairs, clients train on the equipment in both private and small group sessions. Upstairs, mat classes and other movement sessions provide a complementary environment for learning.
The studio has also become something more: an Authorised Training Centre for Balanced Body education, where Thomas now teaches the teacher-training curriculum and mentors aspiring instructors.
It’s a role she never imagined when she first returned home with a single Reformer.